I was wary of some nuclear deal going on between India and US. I was also wary of the fact that the UPA government would face stiff opposition in passing the deal, because presumably the Left( a member of the United Progressive Alliance) had its own inhibitions on the deal. However, irrespective of the political stance on this issue, I was more intrigued by the intricacies of this Nuclear deal. There were numerous unanswered questions circulating my head:
What is this Nuclear deal?
What is IAEA and what is its involvement?
Why is the US so keen on getting on with the nuclear deal?
Hence, I read the newspapers for some insight into these questions. Apparently, the newspapers were more intent on capturing the dramatic events in the parliament. I thought to myself, perhaps, I was looking in the wrong place at the wrong time. Next, I googled. Bingo! There was a plethora of information waiting to be read, but, none that I could be content with. I usually prefer details right from its origins with all the glossary intact. If I don't know the meaning of any term that's used, I should be able to find it in the glossary. My efforts to find such an article went in vain.
After a few hours of intense searching and reading, I could claim that I had a fair idea on some of the questions listed above. So, I thought I should share some of my understandings and interpretations on this 'nuclear deal'. I do not claim that this article would explain everything on the subject, but yes, I do want to make an attempt at simplifying things. Moreover, the facts below have been fetched from reliable sources such as the wikipedia, though the opinions thus fomed are purely personal and are open to confrontations, should you feel to do so.
Before leaping into the nitty-gritty of the deal, lets look at some 'glossary', which will be used frequently henceforth.
NPT: Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
As the name suggests, this treaty was proposed to limit the spread of nuclear weapons. The signatories would also commit to disarmament and peaceful use of nuclear energy.
The treaty was proposed by Ireland and opened for signature in 1968, and first signed by Finland. Today 189 countries have signed this treaty.
India is among the three sovereigns, never to have signed the NPT, the others being Pakistan, and Israel. North Korea is the other sovereign which did sign the NPT, but later violated its norms and then withdrew, thus increasing the count of non-NPT members to four.
Five states are recognised by NPT as nuclear weapon states(NWS) - France, China, Soviet Union(now Russia), US and the UK. These were the states which possessed and openly tested nuclear weapons until then. i.e. 1967. All of these states had agreed to sign the NPT.
India tested its first nuclear weapon in 1974. So you could say, it missed out by a whisker on being recognised as a NWS by the NPT.
IAEA: International Atomic Energy Agency
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is an international organization that seeks to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy and to inhibit its use for military purposes. One of the clause of the NPT was that IAEA safeguards must be applied to nuclear exports.
NSG: Nuclear Suppliers Group
It was founded in 1975 in response to the nuclear tests done by India in the previous year. Signatories of the NPT felt the need to further curtail the supply of nuclear equipment, material and technology. Henceforth the members of this group would restrict export of nuclear supplies to countries which did not sign the NPT. India, of course, was among the countries to which the export restriction applied.
So, with all these background information, I understood that India had to depend on itself for any nuclear energy that it might want to generate, right from the raw materials to the technology aspect. One of the key raw materials for nuclear energy is Uranium. India does not have enough of Uranium, the fuel that powers the reactors, to harness nuclear energy. To reduce the shortage, India couldn't even import Uranium from other countries because there was an organization called the NSG which would not supply India with Uranium unless it agreed to IAEA safeguards. Now if one were to ask, why not import it from the non-NSG members? Well, all the countries which have surplus of Uranium are members of NSG. Another question to ask is why do we need nuclear energy? Isnt there any other source of energy? Moreover, why is it that Uranium is required for nuclear energy? Couldn't there be any other fuel from which nuclear energy could be harnessed?
First things first, the spiralling prices of crude oil has forced nations to look for alternate sources of energy. The available alternates are: among non renewable sources, coal, natural gas and propane. Nuclear energy, though argued by many to be a renewable source of energy, has not been legally classified under renewable category. So, being a law-abiding global citizen, I would put it under the non renewable regime. Among renewable sources wind, solar and hydro are the main contenders. I am not sure why these forms of energy is not chased after. I would presume because of its non reliability and the costs associated with it. Among non-renewable sources, nuclear energy seems to be the automatic choice then.
Now that nuclear energy is the de-facto source of energy that seems viable, atleast in the near future, why Uranium? Thorium is another fuel which could be used in nuclear reactors. Besides, India is believed to produce 25% of the world's thorium. I am not too sure on this either, but I am led to believe that technology has not yet caught up on nuclear reactors running solely on thorium. Even if research on this is carried out and methods invented, based on which thorium could be a sustitute to uranium, it would not be commercially available in the near future.
So that leads us back to Uranium, and India is facing acute shortage for it. The government, along with private players are waiting to bring up nuclear plants but the shortage of Uranium has thwarted its intentions. So to account for this shortage, India requires this nuclear deal, a bilateral agreement on nuclear cooperation between the United States of America and India. Under this deal India agrees to separate its civil and military nuclear facilities and place its civil facilities under IAEA safeguards and, in exchange, the United States agreed to work toward full civil nuclear cooperation with India. Not surprisingly, now that the nuclear deal between India and the US is on the verge of being inked, many companies have announced major investments in the energy sector.
So what does US stand to gain out of this deal? I believe there are two major gains. Firstly, US will have major benefits from the huge amount of exports it makes in terms of technology and raw material. It would boost their economy. Next is the more strategic, albeit controversial, gain. Before I lay out my opinion, few questions to be asked. If the deal were to be signed, India would be required to open up 14 of its 22 nuclear reactors to the IAEA. So what about the remaining eight? Since India is not required to sign the NPT, it could still proliferate its nuclear power in these remaining eight reactors. Moreover, why are the NSG countries giving their consent to this deal? Isn't the US breaking one of NSG's clause: supplying nuclear material and technology to a non NPT member? I think thats exactly what US wants. It does not want India to be a non proliferator. This would help keep check on China, deemed to be a nuclear power, should it wish to showcase its nuclear power to become a super power. A definite threat to US , China, kept in check by its neighbour. What better could US have asked for? No danger to its staus as the superpower, while further strengthening its economy.
To conclude, if India needs to progress, it needs energy. Rising prices of crude oil have proved detrimental to India's cause. So what it needs is nuclear energy to boost its energy supply which is possible only if the nuclear deal is inked. One could question US' strategy behind this deal, but who cares, as long as India stands to gain. Go India go!!!!
What is this Nuclear deal?
What is IAEA and what is its involvement?
Why is the US so keen on getting on with the nuclear deal?
Hence, I read the newspapers for some insight into these questions. Apparently, the newspapers were more intent on capturing the dramatic events in the parliament. I thought to myself, perhaps, I was looking in the wrong place at the wrong time. Next, I googled. Bingo! There was a plethora of information waiting to be read, but, none that I could be content with. I usually prefer details right from its origins with all the glossary intact. If I don't know the meaning of any term that's used, I should be able to find it in the glossary. My efforts to find such an article went in vain.
After a few hours of intense searching and reading, I could claim that I had a fair idea on some of the questions listed above. So, I thought I should share some of my understandings and interpretations on this 'nuclear deal'. I do not claim that this article would explain everything on the subject, but yes, I do want to make an attempt at simplifying things. Moreover, the facts below have been fetched from reliable sources such as the wikipedia, though the opinions thus fomed are purely personal and are open to confrontations, should you feel to do so.
Before leaping into the nitty-gritty of the deal, lets look at some 'glossary', which will be used frequently henceforth.
NPT: Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
As the name suggests, this treaty was proposed to limit the spread of nuclear weapons. The signatories would also commit to disarmament and peaceful use of nuclear energy.
The treaty was proposed by Ireland and opened for signature in 1968, and first signed by Finland. Today 189 countries have signed this treaty.
India is among the three sovereigns, never to have signed the NPT, the others being Pakistan, and Israel. North Korea is the other sovereign which did sign the NPT, but later violated its norms and then withdrew, thus increasing the count of non-NPT members to four.
Five states are recognised by NPT as nuclear weapon states(NWS) - France, China, Soviet Union(now Russia), US and the UK. These were the states which possessed and openly tested nuclear weapons until then. i.e. 1967. All of these states had agreed to sign the NPT.
India tested its first nuclear weapon in 1974. So you could say, it missed out by a whisker on being recognised as a NWS by the NPT.
IAEA: International Atomic Energy Agency
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is an international organization that seeks to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy and to inhibit its use for military purposes. One of the clause of the NPT was that IAEA safeguards must be applied to nuclear exports.
NSG: Nuclear Suppliers Group
It was founded in 1975 in response to the nuclear tests done by India in the previous year. Signatories of the NPT felt the need to further curtail the supply of nuclear equipment, material and technology. Henceforth the members of this group would restrict export of nuclear supplies to countries which did not sign the NPT. India, of course, was among the countries to which the export restriction applied.
So, with all these background information, I understood that India had to depend on itself for any nuclear energy that it might want to generate, right from the raw materials to the technology aspect. One of the key raw materials for nuclear energy is Uranium. India does not have enough of Uranium, the fuel that powers the reactors, to harness nuclear energy. To reduce the shortage, India couldn't even import Uranium from other countries because there was an organization called the NSG which would not supply India with Uranium unless it agreed to IAEA safeguards. Now if one were to ask, why not import it from the non-NSG members? Well, all the countries which have surplus of Uranium are members of NSG. Another question to ask is why do we need nuclear energy? Isnt there any other source of energy? Moreover, why is it that Uranium is required for nuclear energy? Couldn't there be any other fuel from which nuclear energy could be harnessed?
First things first, the spiralling prices of crude oil has forced nations to look for alternate sources of energy. The available alternates are: among non renewable sources, coal, natural gas and propane. Nuclear energy, though argued by many to be a renewable source of energy, has not been legally classified under renewable category. So, being a law-abiding global citizen, I would put it under the non renewable regime. Among renewable sources wind, solar and hydro are the main contenders. I am not sure why these forms of energy is not chased after. I would presume because of its non reliability and the costs associated with it. Among non-renewable sources, nuclear energy seems to be the automatic choice then.
Now that nuclear energy is the de-facto source of energy that seems viable, atleast in the near future, why Uranium? Thorium is another fuel which could be used in nuclear reactors. Besides, India is believed to produce 25% of the world's thorium. I am not too sure on this either, but I am led to believe that technology has not yet caught up on nuclear reactors running solely on thorium. Even if research on this is carried out and methods invented, based on which thorium could be a sustitute to uranium, it would not be commercially available in the near future.
So that leads us back to Uranium, and India is facing acute shortage for it. The government, along with private players are waiting to bring up nuclear plants but the shortage of Uranium has thwarted its intentions. So to account for this shortage, India requires this nuclear deal, a bilateral agreement on nuclear cooperation between the United States of America and India. Under this deal India agrees to separate its civil and military nuclear facilities and place its civil facilities under IAEA safeguards and, in exchange, the United States agreed to work toward full civil nuclear cooperation with India. Not surprisingly, now that the nuclear deal between India and the US is on the verge of being inked, many companies have announced major investments in the energy sector.
So what does US stand to gain out of this deal? I believe there are two major gains. Firstly, US will have major benefits from the huge amount of exports it makes in terms of technology and raw material. It would boost their economy. Next is the more strategic, albeit controversial, gain. Before I lay out my opinion, few questions to be asked. If the deal were to be signed, India would be required to open up 14 of its 22 nuclear reactors to the IAEA. So what about the remaining eight? Since India is not required to sign the NPT, it could still proliferate its nuclear power in these remaining eight reactors. Moreover, why are the NSG countries giving their consent to this deal? Isn't the US breaking one of NSG's clause: supplying nuclear material and technology to a non NPT member? I think thats exactly what US wants. It does not want India to be a non proliferator. This would help keep check on China, deemed to be a nuclear power, should it wish to showcase its nuclear power to become a super power. A definite threat to US , China, kept in check by its neighbour. What better could US have asked for? No danger to its staus as the superpower, while further strengthening its economy.
To conclude, if India needs to progress, it needs energy. Rising prices of crude oil have proved detrimental to India's cause. So what it needs is nuclear energy to boost its energy supply which is possible only if the nuclear deal is inked. One could question US' strategy behind this deal, but who cares, as long as India stands to gain. Go India go!!!!
8 comments:
Good work! Very nicely and simply explained!
Rajiv,Truly good stuff yaar.I never knew that u were a born writer!!Good Work man.Though I must say that the article could have been more lengthy.
Good Yaar.
Hey thanks a lot AK. But ur initials hardly ring a bell in my mind. So if you could disclose ur identity ;)
Very well written... enlightened me quiet a lot nd has made me curious now... will research on this and if i find anything new will add here... keep up the good work!!!!
Very Nice article Rajiv,
Your writing skills are awesome!
Very well researched article. You have given me answers to many questions which I had myself. From now on, If I dont find anything on wikipedia, I know where to look for :)
About the deal, I had one more question - it seems that there is a cluase in the deal that when US supplies all the raw materials and technology to us, we are supposed to do nothing but use them. In turn this would mean stopping all research on nuclear fuel. It would also mean shutting down the option of using Thorium as a viable fuel. This is a setback for our country which boasts of talented nuclear scientists and surplus of thorium. I am not sure whethere there is a clause like this and whether India has agreed to it. Do you know about this?
I am sorry for a mini-blog in your comments page. Keep up the good work buddy!
@shashia: Hi shashi, Firstly thanks for the appreciation. I am honoured:) Regarding your query, I am not too sure India would be restricted in any such way. Because, the draft of the safeguards pact with the IAEA(which India disclosed on 12th July)recognises India as a "a state with advanced nuclear technology, which has a sovereign and inalienable right to carry out nuclear research and development activities for the welfare of its people and other peaceful purposes". And I am sure, research on Thorium as an alternate to Uranium for energy is for the welfare of people and a peaceful activity. So I think that should quell any fear that the scientists or well-wishers might have.
Impressive wk....you actually did a research on this topic is really comendable...chotu keep the blogs comin in....
I like it...
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